Saturday, September 29, 2007

The unsung great of Twenty20: RP Singh

Why is nobody talking about RP Singh? This lad showed potential par excellence, scalping wickets with fantastic variation in line and length. Three crucial Pakistani wickets were his gift to Indian cricket team in the finals and he did it with a temperament like a cucumber. His contribution throughout the series cannot be overlooked.

I have been googling to find out the awards showered on him and I am sorry to say there are barely any. UP Govt has announced one award(Manyavar Kanshiramji International Sports Award) which holds a cash award of Rs.10 lakhs and this is the only individual award he has been conferred.

The cash awards being recieved by the other players completely overshadow Rudra's achievements. Joginder Sharma, who was a dream bowler for any batsman, gets Rs. 21 Lakhs from Haryana government. This award is not because, he did his job right in the last over, but because Misbah commited a cricketing crime. The poster boy Yuvraj gets a deserved cash award for 6-sixes but isn't Rs.1 Crore a wee bit excessive?? These are but a few examples of cash and kind awards for the few popular ones.

If I was a certain Mr.Modi, I would have split Rs. 1 Crore between Yuvraj, RP Singh, Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan. Yuvraj and Pathan are mainstays of Indian Cricket for a long time now but RP Singh and Rohit Sharma should be encouraged.

We would not be so elated today if the contribution from RP Singh and Rohit Sharma was missing. Rohit Sharma atleast stole the thunder in Semi finals by hitting 50 runs but RP did his job to keep Australia from reaching that score. RP Singh is one of the most prmomising bowler in the phalanx of Indian pace bowlers and yet he is being neglected like a hockey player(yes, they are neglected in our country). RP Singh's reticient approach to cricket is the distinguishing factor. RP’s figure in semifinals 4-0-13-0 were the key in India reaching the finals.

Are the rich and famous, who can sponsor awards listening? Is BCCI listening? Is the government of UP listening? RP Singh is here to win matches and be a mainstay in Indian cricket and looks as bankable as any excellent cricketer can be.